King Bradley/2003 Anime
( )}} is the true identity of Führer King Bradley in the 2003 anime series. Created by Dante, he has reached the top of the State Military in order to pull the strings of society to create a Philosopher's Stone for her. By possessing the title of "Führer" King Bradley, enabling him to carry out his reign with little opposition, as well as possessing the heightened abilities of a Homunculus, Pride's position makes him the most powerful entity in the world. Powers and Abilities Pride has been gifted with two abilities, unlike his brethren. The ultimate form of vision, which is accompanied by his extraordinary swordsmanship, as well as the unique ability to age. Unlike his manga counterpart, Wrath, Pride has retained the ability to regenerate any wound. This regenerative ability was demonstrated to its fullest degree when allowing "his entire body to explode" whilst battling Roy Mustang. He was shown (to an extent) to have a tremendous amount of agility/speed, such as his fight with Martel and Roy Mustang, and can use it to close in on his enemies in the blink of an eye. Personality and Appearance Calm, collected, patient, and extremely intelligent, Pride is considered by Dante as being "her greatest masterpiece", due to him being able to age and function like a normal human being. He is a largely composed and stoic figure much of the time and appears to be indebted to his master for giving him and his brethren life. However, unlike most of his Homunculi partners, Pride's motives and personal goals are largely kept a mystery. It's well established he's very secretive (something he reveals innocuously to his son), highly manipulative, confident, and is utterly driven in accomplishing key desires; in his case, producing a Philosopher's Stone for Dante to utilize. Despite his guise as the popular King Bradley, he does not have any of the redeemable characteristics that his Wrath manga counterpart possesses at an internal level. He's shown to lack any sense of respect for humankind in general, and is willing to kill as much of them as possible. True to his name, Pride is secretly very narcissistic, considering most other beings beneath him with the exception of Dante and possibly the Homunculi who remain loyal to her. He also appears to possess a rather cruel streak not shared by his Wrath counterpart, playing a sadistic game of cat-and-mouse with Mustang before attempting to kill him. Like his manga counterpart Pride is a gifted actor, playing an ongoing charade as both the benevolent, charming family man and a respectable city leader in public. This is just a deceptive façade, though, as he secretly harbors a deep contempt for humanity (much like his master). In the final battle at the Fuhrer's mansion, Mustang points out the dichotomy in this ideology when he witnesses his affectionate behavior towards his son Selim. This was until he realizes that Selim had unwittingly brought the skull of his original human body to the basement. As this is the one object that can weaken him, he near-mindlessly strangles Selim, announcing his hatred for him as well. Bradley arrogantly believes that his enhanced abilities will always bring him victory. This has largely been in the case during his existence, both when masquerading as a leader and with Dante secretly pulling the strings of humanity. He was hugely confident in his own judgment when handing the key to the safe containing his weakness over to Selim-believing his son wouldn't do anything to betray him in any way. When he is finally faced with his one physical disadvantage he reacts with fearsome anger at the realization of his impending death (and his demise being brought on by his "foolish son"). Similarly, Bradley takes subtle pleasure in mocking other people's insecurities, such as snidely remarking about Envy's issues with Hohenheim (provoking a violent outburst from the latter), as well as Mustang's sacrificing of his dreams in the almost-botched assassination attempt. Pride has no problem in starting bloody wars; in the English dub proclaims himself as God's guardian angel because he believes that he is controlling humanity's hubris by depriving them of the Philosopher's Stone (leading him to develop some sort of a messiah-complex). He's shown to be aware of Roy's desire to become Fuhrer, which he finds more amusing than threatening. It would seem that while many of the Homunculi express a desire to become human Pride apparently doesn't. This may be due to his aforementioned contempt for humanity, as well as truly believing in his own facade. Further, this point is the theory that Pride's motives for aiding Dante may have more to do with receiving components that fulfill any desire to become human, such as being touted as a benevolent leader popular with the masses, as well as being a loving husband and father. This is a distortion of reality however, as Pride's true nature is revealed to arguably be more 'inhuman' than even the other Homunculi, ironically sharing this distinction with Envy himself. In fact, he exhibits psychopathic traits, like expert manipulation skills, being able to form relationships, lying, sadism, and the inherent lack of remorse or guilt for all his deeds. Unlike his manga counterpart, his skin is more beige and has softer features, his mustache is thinner and smaller, and his eyes mostly stay closed. He usually wears his Führer uniform, but he also wore a casual long-sleeved white shirt during his fight with Mustang. His Homunculus outfit is a leotard at first, before transforming into a similar outfit when he fought Greed (as portrayed in the manga). Also unlike the manga, he's only ever seen with just one sword as opposed to carrying multiple swords with him, presumably because he never really sees the need to fight his battles unless necessary. History In the 2003 anime series, Bradley first appeared in episode six, at the start of the Alchemy examination and is seen in the examination of Edward's alchemic abilities. Bradley is seen impressed by his ability to perform transmutations without a circle and makes Edward Elric the youngest State Alchemist ever, giving him the title of the Fullmetal Alchemist. Later in episode 8, he overhears Alphonse talking to Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye about the Philosopher's Stone. Alphonse did not know who Führer Bradley was at the time, and Bradley stopped Hawkeye from answering Alphonse when the armored boy asked her. Bradley gave Alphonse information about where to read up on the Philosopher's Stone, seemingly unfazed by the potential danger that he was putting Alphonse in allowing him to search for information on it. Later in the series, it is revealed that Bradley started and stopped the Ishval Civil War, an event that leads to the near extermination of the Ishvalan race before the start of the series. Bradley ended the war by sending State Alchemists in, although it was Bradley himself who started the war in the first place. The reasons for him starting the war are revealed later when he was discovered to be the Homunculus Pride working for his creator, a woman named Dante. Bradley is later revealed to have a wife and son. At some point, he secretly made Sloth his secretary, under the guise of Juliet Douglas. Bradley and the rest of his group in Central fled east and took command of the Eastern Command Center to escape the wrath of Scar, although Bradley apologized to Mustang for the hassle that was being caused. The Führer later returned to Central. The Führer accompanied Hughes and his team to save Edward and Alphonse from Laboratory 5, allowed Hughes to continue his investigation into the Homunculi, and also permitted the capture of Scar in Reole. However, Martel, the snake chimera found him talking about the deliberate destruction of Reole with Colonel Frank Archer. She cornered him and soon discovered him to be a Homunculus. With his identity exposed and now his role as the Führer on the line, Pride hunts Martel who he finds hiding in Al's armor and stabs her dead with his sword. However, Al already has learned the truth about Pride and quickly tells Ed about it. Mustang, Armstrong, and the other members of Mustang's Unit also discover the truth as well. Roy decides to avenge Hughes with the help of Lt. Hawkeye. A final battle between Pride and Mustang occurs in the Führer's estate. As Pride is on the verge of defeating Mustang, Selim appears with a sack, which in fact contains the skull of the person Pride was created from. Out of rage, Bradley strangles his young son to death. Mustang uses this opportunity to seize the skull and paralyze Pride. The Flame Alchemist repeatedly sets Pride on fire until he is no more. In the aftermath, Pride has been reduced to a puddle of red liquid. Mustang drops the skull onto the puddle and sets fire to it, melting the skull and ending Pride's life. It should be noted that Bradley's age may be well over 60, as his aging appearance is revealed to be one of the abilities Homunculi can utilize should they apply time and effort. Also, he is remarked to be the strongest of the Homunculi, even more so than Envy, the first Homunculus. Conqueror of Shamballa In the movie Conqueror of Shamballa, Ed sees a man drive by that looks like Führer Bradley. He realizes after the confrontation that isn't Bradley, but his counterpart of a Jewish movie director named Fritz Lang. Trivia * Pride is the name thought to be given to the strongest Homunculus. However, it's possible that the 2003 incarnation of Envy is physically stronger than Pride (evident when he was knocked down and didn't fight back or defend himself in any way.) It's important to note, however, that he was more concerned with appearing discourteous in the presence of Dante (whereas Envy didn't care in the slightest). * Pride's abilities and characteristics are unique to him even among the Homunculi. He can age like a regular human, but also regenerate in near instantaneous time as shown when he allows his body to be completely destroyed in the final battle with Mustang. This was only done as a way of testing his abilities, which he claimed he never had many opportunities to when acting the role of King Bradley. Note that the concept of a human-based Homunculus was never covered in the 2003 anime like in the manga or in 2009's Brotherhood. Another point of interest is the particular skin tone Pride has, which is very similar to that of Greed's and Gluttony's. This could be due to all being created by the master alchemist Dante (it's very likely that Gluttony was as well, despite never being stated outright). Like all Homunculi, he is greatly weakened when in the proximity of his original human body's remains. Unlike the other deaths of the species showcased in the anime, however, Pride wasn't totally immobilized when coming into contact with his human counterpart's skull. Although his remains were concealed from view it had been well established that other Homunculi such as Sloth, Lust, and Greed would become totally paralyzed by any nearby original traces of the original human-whether they were hidden from direct view or not. Contrary to this, Pride was able to muster the strength to strangle Selim as the boy held the skull. Further to this is evidence that he could physically handle his remains when moving them into a safe without becoming completely debilitated (he was shown to be under a huge amount of duress, however). Pride was only completely paralyzed and subsequently defeated when Mustang directly revealed these remains to him. It was also possible that the homunculus used up all his strength at the time when murdering Selim in his rage. * It's unclear if he has any genuine feelings towards his wife like his manga counterpart does, although his attitude towards humanity makes it highly unlikely. However, he did order General Hakuro to send flowers to Mrs. Bradley when Hakuro was left as Deputy Führer for a brief time. * Although the 2003 anime has no mention or suggestion of a human-based Homunculus, it's possible that whoever Pride was originally created from voluntarily agreed to be used by Dante. This seems likely as, other than Envy, he appears the most informed about Dante's plan and the most willing to act on what he believes Dante would want regardless of previous orders. He also is willing to punish Lust when she assists Scar, contrary to Dante's orders at that point, which would make him Dante's enforcer along with Envy (who's more of a right-hand man). * By thinking age-wise, it's unclear what course of action Dante would take if he stayed as Führer for too long (to the point that others would question his true identity). It has been heavily implied that she could alter his appearance at some point, which she has shown to be capable in doing when she removed Gluttony's Ouroboros tattoo (and consequently reducing his thoughts to the 'sin' he represents). Reversing his age or shifting his appearance in some other way would allow Pride to stay in the position of King Bradley indefinitely, until his master's plan was completed. * Pride's similarities to real-world dictator Adolf Hitler are even more pronounced than his manga's counterpart. He proclaims with confidence that many of the genocides committed by the Amestris military are a "purification of the population", which represents the superior line of thinking he believes he possesses over humanity when making decisions. * Unlike his manga counterpart, Pride is not unsure about his true identity or name. 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